Scan barcode
bea_reads_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
dragongirl271's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Transphobia, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity
angerrcat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit
madipenn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Moderate: Transphobia, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
ceeceegee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Homophobia, Death of parent, and Outing
sorayah11's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Transphobia, War, and Classism
r_a_bell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
ehmannky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I liked the characters and their relationship, and I liked getting to explore a world where queerness is embedded into the society, but the overall mystery and court intrigue did nothing for me. I think many problems could have been solved had the timeline been drawn out and the characters given more time to adjust to things and interactions with more of the palace residents. Like, this is billed as a slowburn, which I suppose it kind of is considering it's over 500 pages, but the story itself takes place over 3 weeks, with the romance taking place over 1 week. Like for the reader this is a slowburn but it's still soooooo fast in-universe. And since it's such a short timeline, I truly did not care even a little bit about the reveal of who was behind the mysteries, because we really had so little interaction with them throughout the story. I cannot believe there was a villain monologue where every step of the plan was spelled out (because again, the book's timeline is so short, and there's not really any space for the characters to actually solve the mystery or learn about this secondary character). I also didn't care for how there's never any down time. Every single chapter ends with some kind of cliffhanger and interruption. Like, it got to the point where Cae and Vel would have a quiet moment and I'd just brace for someone to knock on the door because they never get to have a normal conclusion to a story.
As many reviewers have pointed out, there is an on-the-page rape very quickly and most of the book is Velasin recovering from it. And even though there are trigger warnings, I think it's important to know that this assault and his first suicide attempt take place within the first 50 pages. Like, avoid if that would be triggering.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
purplepenning's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Though it's a well-handled journey of healing, a main point of view character experiences significant trauma early in and deals with trauma recovery for much of the book.sissizc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Outing
Moderate: Vomit